Petula Clark
Petula Clark , CBE ( Ewell ( Surrey ), November 15 1932 ) is an English singer, actress and composer, best known for its popular international hits from the 60s. With about 70 million records sold worldwide, she is the most successful British female singer in history. She also has the longest career in the charts, with 51 years of "The Little Shoemaker" in 1954 in the top 20 of the UK came to her CD L'essentiel - 20 Bestseller inoubliables , in 2005 in Belgium in the album charts came. Content [ hide ] *1 Biography **1.1 Young Life **1.2 International fame **[http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petula_Clark#Het_Downtown_tijdperk 1.3 The Downtown era] *[http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petula_Clark#Post-Downtown_tijdperk 2 Post- Downtown era] *3 Filmography *4 Discography **4.1 albums in the charts of UK and U.S. **4.2 Singles **4.3 Singles charts in the UK and U.S. **4.4 French singles **4.5 Other notable songs *5 Radio 2 Top 2000 *6 Notes *7 External links Biography [ edit ] Young life [ edit ] She was born in Ewell, Surrey , her father was English and her mother came from Wales . She made her radio debut in October 1942, when she and her father in a broadcast by the BBCwas to be sent to an uncle who was stationed overseas a message. The producer asked someone to sing something and Petula gave up, the studio audience was enthusiastic and Petula then made some 500 appearances in programs that were created to entertain the war. Troops Clark toured the country with another child star Julie Andrews and became known as the British Shirley Temple and became a mascot for both the British and the U.S. Army. Then in 1944 she performed in the Royal Albert Hall, she was discovered by film director Maurice Elvey who asked her to play in his war drama orphan Medal for the General . There were still several films. Although they played mostly in B-movies they still had the opportunity to work together with Anthony Newley in Vice Versa (directed by Peter Ustinov ) and Alec Guinness in The Card , which is considered by many to be a classic. In 1946 her television career started at the BBC went with the show Cabaret Cartoons. Then she got her own afternoon series that simply Petula Clark was called. In 1949 was followed by Pet's Parlour . In later years, when she was already a celebrated singer she also got the series This is Petula Clark (1966) and The Sound of Petula (1972-74). In the 50s she began to record songs and to bring out in 1954 and scored her first hit in the UK. In the United States in 1951, she released her first song from (Tell Me Truly), but it took thirteen years before the American record buying public would discover. Hair International fame [ edit ] Petula was in 1958 invited to sing at the famous Olympia in Paris . There she met Claude Wolff, where she immediately felt attracted to, and when he asked her if she wanted to sign with record label Vogue Records they readily agreed.Her initial French recordings were huge successes, and in 1960 she went on tour in France and Belgium with the French star Sacha Distel , who is a good friend of hers remained until his death in 2004 . Petula conquered the continent with songs in German, French, Italian and sing Spanish. In June 1961 she married Claude, the first law in Paris and then to the Church in England. She decided to move where they soon had two daughters, Barbara Michelle and Katherine Natalie, to France, and a son Patrick who was born in 1972 later. As they focused on a new career in France, she continued to have hits in her home country. The Sailor song became her first number one hit in 1961, the same year she had hit there with "Romeo" and "My Friend the Sea". The following year she had in France big hits with "Ya Ya Twist" (a cover of a song by Lee Dorsey ) and "Chariot" (original version of "I will follow him"). The German and Italian versions of her hits as well engrafted. She also covered several songs ofSerge Gainsbourg and these songs were selling like hot cakes. In 1963 and 1964 her career collapsed. Composer Tony Hatch Pye Records flew to Paris with new material, but Petula found no good song. Desperate, he played a few chords of an unfinished song that was inspired by his recent trip toNew York City and that he wanted to submit to The Drifters . After hearing the music, Clark said that if he could write a text that was as good as the melody, she wanted to record her next single the song. Thus Downtown born. The Downtown era [ edit ] Neither Clark, who was in French Canada to occur when the song was first released, nor Hatch realized the impact the song would have on their respective careers. Downtown was released in late 1964 in four different languages and was a great success in the United Kingdom, France (both English and French versions), Netherlands , Germany , Australia , Italy and even Rhodesia , Japan and India . During a visit to the Vogue offices in Paris Joe Smith heard of Warner Brothers song and immediately took over the rights to itself for distribution in the United States. The song hit number one in January 1965 and eventually went three million copies sold in America. It was the first of fifteen consecutive Top 40 hits Clark scored in the U.S. including: I know a place , My love , This is my song , and Do not sleep in the subway . She has won two Grammy Awards , "best rock 'n' roll song" for Downtown and "Best Vocal Performance" for I know a place . In 2003 Downtown was elected to the Grammy Hall of Fame. Because of the success she was also regularly on television in shows with Ed Sullivan and Dean Martin . In 1968 early broadcaster NBC her as a hostess in a special on her. Petula wrote television history. As she wrote himself anti-war song On the path of glory sang with Harry Belafonte she touched him innocent of his arm, to the dismay of a representative from Chrysler . That company was the sponsor of the show and the man feared that touch the viewers from the South would offend - racial conflict at that time were still a hot topic in the U.S.. When he insisted that a new recording was made in which Clark and Belafonte far enough apart surrendered, they refused and her husband, who was a producer and as the show with the touch there was broadcast on April 8 , 1968 . The "incident" was a national and international media attention. [1] She took two specials, one of which was to serve as a pilot episode for a weekly series that ABC wanted to broadcast the station but the offer they eventually hit because her children do not like to be in Los Angeles lived. In the late sixties, she played again in films with two musicals: Finians Rainbow from 1968 in which she with Fred Astaire played and for which she was nominated at the Golden Globes and Goodbye Mr. Chips from 1969 with Peter O'Toole . After this her career went downhill in America, although they still recorded songs and appeared on television. Post- Downtown era [ edit ] In 1954, Clark played already in the theater The Constant Nymph, but it took until 1981 before she returned to the theater when they play the role of Maria von Trapp took on in the musical The Sound of Music . The musical was a huge success, and Clark was identified by the real Maria von Trapp Mary as the best ever, the initial six months were extended to thirteen months to comply. The large demand Her career is not over yet. In 1998 and 2002 she made an extensive tour of the UK. In 2000 she presented in Montreal a one woman show that she had written himself and which was well received. They have toured and there was also a dvd of a concert at the Olympia in Paris in 2003 . In 1998 Clark was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in the Order of the British Empire . Filmography [ edit ] *''Medal for the General'' (1944) *''Strawberry Roan'' (1945) *''Murder in Reverse'' (1945) *''I Know Where I'm Going!'' (1945) *''Trouble at Townsend'' (1946) *''London Town'' (1946) *''Vice Versa'' (1948) *''Easy Money'' (1948) *''Here Come the Huggetts'' (1948) *''Vote for Huggett (1949)'' *''The Huggetts Abroad'' (1949) *''Do not Ever Leave Me'' (1949) *''The Romantic Age'' (1949) *''Dance Hall'' (1950) *''White Corridors'' (1951) *''Madame Louise'' (1951) *''The Card'' (1952) *''Made in Heaven'' (1952) *''The Runaway Bus'' (1954) *''The Gay Dog'' (1954) *''The Happiness of Three Women'' (1954) *''Track the Man Down'' (1955) *''That Woman Opposite'' (1957) *''6.5 Special'' (1958) *''À Couteaux Tires'' (1964) *''Finian's Rainbow'' (1968) *''Goodbye, Mr.. Chips (1969)'' *''Drôles the Zèbres'' (1977) *''Never, Never Land'' (1980) *''Sans Famille'' (1981 French miniseries) Discography [ edit ] Albums in the charts of UK and U.S. [ edit ] She released her debut album in 1956, but no lp was in the charts for 1965. *''Downtown'' (1965) U.S. # 21 *''I Know A Place'' (1965) U.S. # 42 *''Petula Clark Sings The World's Greatest International Hits'' (1965) U.S. # 129 *''A Sign of the Times / My Love'' (1966) U.S. # 68 *''I Could not Live Without Your Love'' (1966) UK # 11 / U.S. # 43 *''Petula Clark's Hit Parade'' (1967) UK # 18 *''Colour My World / Who Am I'' (1967) U.S. # 49 *''These Are My Songs'' (1967) UK # 38 / U.S. # 27 *''The Other Man's Grass Is Always Greener'' (1968) UK # 37 / U.S. # 93 *''Petula'' (1968) U.S. # 51 *''Finian's Rainbow'' (1968) U.S. # 90 *''Petula Clark's Greatest Hits, Vol. 1'' (1969) U.S. # 57 *''Portrait Of Petula'' (1969) U.S. # 37 *''Goodbye, Mr.. Chips'' (1969) U.S. # 164 *''Just Pet'' (1969) U.S. # 176 *''Memphis'' (1970) U.S. # 198 *''Warm And Tender'' (1971) U.S. # 178 *''20 All Time Greatest'' (1977) UK # 18 *''The Ultimate Collection'' (2002) UK # 18 Singles [ edit ] Singles in the UK and U.S. charts [ edit ] Although she made her first single in 1949, she scored her first hit until 1954. *1954: "The Little Shoemaker" UK # 7 *1955: "Majorca" UK # 12 *1955: "Suddenly There's A Valley" UK # 7 *1957: "With All My Heart" UK # 4 *1957: "Alone (Why Must I Be Alone)" UK # 8 *1958: "Baby Lover" UK # 12 *1961: "Sailor" UK # 1 *1961: "Something Missing" UK # 44 *1961: "Romeo" UK # 3 *1961: "My Friend The Sea" UK # 7 *1962: "I'm Counting On You" UK # 41 *1962: "Ya Ya Twist" UK # 14 *1963: "Casanova / Chariot" UK # 39 *1964: " Downtown "UK # 2 / # 1 U.S. (Gold) *1965: "I Know A Place" UK # 17 / U.S. # 3 *1965: "You'd Better Come Home" UK # 44 / U.S. # 22 *1965: "Round Every Corner" UK # 43 / U.S. # 21 *1965: "You're The One" UK # *1965: "My Love" # 4 UK / U.S. # 1 *1966: "A Sign Of The Times" UK # 49 / U.S. # 11 *1966: "I Could not Live Without Your Love" # 6 UK / U.S. # *1966: "Who Am I" U.S. # 21 *1967: "Colour My World" UK # 16 / U.S. # 16 *1967: " This is my song " # 1 UK / U.S. # 3 *1967: "Do not Sleep In The Subway" UK # 12 / U.S. # 5 *1967: "The Cat In The Window (The Bird In The Sky)" U.S. # 26 *1968: "The Other Man's Grass (Is Always Greener)" UK # 20 / U.S. # 31 *1968: "Kiss Me Goodbye" UK # 50 / U.S. # 15 *1968: "Do not Give Up" U.S. # 37 *1968: "American Boys" U.S. # 59 *1969: "Happy Heart" U.S. # 62 *1969: "Look At Mine" U.S. # 89 *1969: "No One Better Than You" U.S. # 93 *1971: "The Song Of My Life" UK # 32 *1972: "I Do not Know How To Love Him" UK # 47 *1972: "My Guy" U.S. # 70 *1972: "The Wedding Song (There Is Love)" U.S. # 61 *1982: "Natural Love" U.S. # 66 *1988: "Downtown '88" UK # 10 U.S. Top 15 Adult comtemporary hits: "You'd Better Come Home" (# 4), "My Love" (# 4), "A Sign Of The Times" (# 2), "I Could not Live Without Your Love "(# 1)," Colour My World "(# 10)," This is my song "(# 2)," Do not Sleep In The Subway "(# 1)," The Cat In The Window "(# 9), "The Other Man's Grass" (# 3), "Kiss Me Goodbye" (# 2), "Do not Give Up" (# 5), "Happy Heart" (# 12), "Look At Mine" (# 14), "My Guy" (# 12), "The Wedding Song" (# 9), "Loving Arms" (# 12, 1974) French singles [ edit ] All songs below reached the number one position *"Romeo" (1961) *"Ya Ya Twist" (1962) *"Chariot" ("I Will Follow Him") (1962) *"Coeur Blesse" (1963) *"C'est Ma Chanson" (" This is my song ") (1967) Other noteworthy songs [ edit ] *"Put Your Shoes On Lucy" (1949) *"House in the Sky" (1949) *"I'll Always Love You" (1949) *"Clancy Lowered the Boom" (1949) *"You Go To My Head" (1950) *"Music! Music! Music!" (1950) *"You Are My True Love" (1950) *"Mariandl" (with Jimmy Young ) (1951) *"Where Did My Snowman Go?" (1952) *"The Card" (1952) *"Christopher Robin At Buckingham Palace" (1953) *"Meet Me in Battersea Park" (1954) *"Suddenly There's A Valley" (1955) *"Another Door Opens" (1956) *"With All My Heart" (1957) *"Fibbin '" (1958) *"Devotion" (1958) *"Dear Daddy" (1959) *"Mama's Talkin 'Soft" (1959), a song that was deleted from musical Gypsy: A Musical Fable *"Cinderella Jones" (1960) *"Marin" ("Sailor") (1961) *"Cœur forehead" (1963) *"Ceux qui ont un cœur" ("Anyone Who Had a Heart") (1964) *"Invece no" (1965) *"Dans le temps" ("Downtown") (1965) *"Sauve-moi" (1977) *"Mr. Orwell." (1984) *''Blood Brothers'' (International Recording) (1995) *''Songs from Sunset Boulevard'' (1996) *''Here for You'' (1998) *''The Ultimate Collection'' (2002) *''Kaleidoscope'' (2003) *"Starting All Over Again" (2003) *''Live at the Paris Olympia'' (2004) *"Driven by Emotion" (2005) *"Memphis" (2005) *"Together" (2006), a duet with Andy Williams *"Thank You for Christmas" (2006) *"Simple Gifts" (2006) *''Duets'' (2007) Radio 2 Top 2000 [ edit ] Category:1932 births Category:Women's music